Hanwha, Liquid win openers at First Stand tourney

Hanwha Life Esports and Team Liquid recorded wins on Monday as the 2025 First Stand Tournament got underway in Seoul, South Korea.

Five teams are competing this week in Riot Games' $1 million League of Legends event, with the winner of Sunday's grand final taking home $300,000. Following a single Round Robin stage (best of three matches), the top four teams move to the Knockout Stage (best of five).

Action began Monday with Hanwha Life Esports sweeping Top Esports and Team Liquid posting a 2-1 victory against Karmine Corp.

HLE won in 29 minutes on blue and 32 minutes on red, with South Korea's Geon-woo "Zeka" Kim named the MVP. South Korea's Yong-in "CoreJJ" Jo was the MVP for Liquid.

Tuesday's schedule:

--CTBC Flying Oyster vs. Karmine Corp

--Team Liquid vs. Top Esports

Round-robin Stage standings (with overall record and map record):

1. Hanwha Life Esports, 1-0, 2-0

2. Team Liquid, 1-0, 2-1

3. CTBC Flying Oyster, 0-0, 0-0

T4. Top Esports, 0-1, 0-2

T4. Karmine Corp, 0-1, 1-2

2025 First Stand prize pool:

1. TBD, $300,000

2. TBD, $225,000

3-4. TBD, TBD, $172,500

5. TBD, $130,000

--Field Level Media